Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom is Half-Camera, Half-Smartphone. David McClelland did a great review of the original Samsung Galaxy Camera last December. The thing I was quite surprised about at the time was that you could not use the zoom control while shooting video! Well today Samsung have taken a second stab at the digitalcamera/smartphone hybrid with the announcement of Galaxy S4 ZOOM. Fingers crossed I will be able to get access to a demo unit once it starts shipping, but the key question for me (for a second time) is can this Android powered camera with a massive 10X optical zoom dominate the iPhone5 (or soon to be released 5s) for Mobile Journalism?

For that answer we shall have to wait but in the interim head over to Engadget and/or Mashable for a preview and to read the full press release.

DSLR News Shooter | HandiZoom motorised zoom controller tranforms DSLRs into ENG style machines.Dan Chung, editor of DSLRNewsShooter.com has a great post about a Zoom Controller that can be mounted on a Canon DSLR /Lens combo and uses an ENG style rocker switch to drive the zoom. In a world where news crews, video journalists and MoJos are aware of the aesthetic values of a DSLR with a fast lens this might prove to be the bridge between DSLR photography/videography and ENG style news gathering. I think it looks impressive and would love to get my hands on one to try out. If Im lucky enough I’ll let you know what I think. In the meantime head over to dslrnewsshooter.com to read Dans full review….

I think this is a very clever device. It is basically a portable Harddrive but with a good selection of IO options. On the input side theres a Compact Flash slot, and SD/SDHC slot and an Express Card/SXS slot which basically means when you are out on location on a long shoot you can dump cards onto the NEXTO DI and then reformat them for reuse in your camera. With the input selection available this will support Sony EX series cameras, Canon Nikon DLSRs etc etc. On the output side theres Firewire 800, eSata and usb. You can review clips on the screen and the menus are clear and easy to read.

The device is rechargeable and is capable of replicating a backup onto two external drives simultaneously (once they are different connectors Firewire 800, eSata and usb) It has built in drop detection to protect the HardDrive in the event of a fall. The pricepoint is around €1500 -might seem expensive in terms of CF/SD cards but two 32Gb SXS cards will cost that if not more- and this baby had a 750Gb HDD on board.

This is a brilliant article from DSLR News Shooter.com about Andy Portch – a senior Sky News cameraman and how he uses the Panasonic Af101 and GH2 cameras for news aquisition. DSLR run and gun shooters: this is a MUST READ!

VIEW FINDER
✔ Designed to simulate the framing of your DSLR camera
✔ Choose from a huge list of available cameras
✔ Zoom through any focal length from 35mm to 400mm. (35mm is the widest due to limitations of the iPhone camera, although this will be addressed in an update coming soon)
✔ “Snapshot” an image you want to save. Your image will be saved, complete with the settings used.
✔ Location data saved with snapshots – remember where, when and what settings you used. Perfect for location scouting

DEPTH OF FIELD CALCULATOR
✔ Choose from a huge list of available cameras
✔ D.O.F data is displayed instantly as you change the controls
✔ Metric/imperial units both supported

DAYLIGHT HOURS
✔ Displays sunrise/sunset times for your current location and time of year
✔ Includes twilight hours – sunset doesn’t always mean there’s no light…
✔ Never run out of daylight unexpectedly again

Nikon D5100 announcement | Nikon Rumors. Coming hot on the heels of the announcement from Nikon that they are introducing a new HDSLR model, the D5100 they now announce the release of a purpose built uni-direction microphone – the ME-1. Now lets see of they can go one better than Canon and include “Magic Lantern” type audio monitoring and controls as standard….